I’ve been sharing some of my more recent trips like the cruise out of New Orleans earlier this year and the Disney trip last year (and some trips in the past). But now I want to share the first trip I planned entirely by myself: Las Vegas.

I’d been out of college for nearly two years, working in a position that I hated and I really wanted to get away for my birthday.

While brainstorming what to do, my mom mentioned she was originally going to take me to Vegas for my 21^st birthday. We didn’t end up going because I made her mad (I had no idea that was the plan at the time).

When she said that, it sparked an excitement to look into Las Vegas for my 24^th birthday trip. This would be our last trip before the pandemic hit the U.S.

Flight and Hotel

Once I decided to go to Vegas, I started looking at hotels. My mom suggested The Venetian so that was number one on my list. I tried to look at any possible ways to get a discount on the stay so I looked to see if they had an AAA rate (they did not). Then, I looked on Tickets-at-Work.com, a benefit that my job has that gets discounts on hotels and activities. Wanting to compare with one more option, I started looking into any credit card benefits and I found Delta Vacations.

I’ve mentioned Delta Cruises in past posts but Delta Vacations is different. With Delta Vacations you can book your flight and hotel together and it may or may not include extra perks and slight discount. If you have a Skymiles card you can get extra miles purchasing this way or use your miles to purchase.

When looking and comparing prices, remember the hotel itself can also offer perks or discounts if you book for a specific time of year so definitely check that too. You could potential plan your trip around those dates instead. I was going for my birthday so that didn’t quite help me.

I compared the regular hotel price and Tickets-at-Work price – adding the potential round trip flight – to the Delta Vacations price. Tickets-at-Work only had a discount on a single bed and my mom and I were both going to Vegas so that ended up not working but comparing the Delta Vacations price with the regular hotel and flight price, Delta Vacations ended being nearly $100 cheaper so I went with that. I still had to get a Lyft to the hotel but they had everything in place.

Hotel Tips

Because I had a recommendation for the Venetian, I didn’t look at any others. Still, when choosing a hotel look at benefits like their amenities and if it fits all of your needs. For example, if you want a shuttle to and from airport, breakfast included, and/or free Wi-Fi (this should be common now but you never know).

Also keep in mind of the extra resort fees you’ll have to take into account. If you book through something other than the hotel directly (discount or travel agent sites) you still have those fees.

The Venetian

I loved staying the Venetian. I felt so fancy walking in. It’s connected to the Palazzo so I had access to both resorts. It is very much Italian themed with the recreated architecture and the “river” within the resort. The river also led outside where you could take the gondola rides but because I went in January that didn’t give the option to go outside (too cold).

I was surprised how the resort (and really all resorts on strip) felt like a mall. If you like shopping there are plenty of places to go. I’m not much a shopper but everything was great to look at. There was also plenty of food options. The only thing the Venetian didn’t have was a buffet.

My room was much larger than I expected. Not only did we have space for the two beds but there was also a den or living room of sorts. The bathroom was extremely nice too! If you ever go to Vegas, I definitely recommend the Venetian.

Things to Do

After I booked my flight and hotel, I started looking at what activities I could do. I checked Youtube, Pinterest, and looked at blogs.

I ended up doing:

Madame Toussauds Wax Museum
Fly Linq Zip Line
High Roller Observation Wheel
Bellagio’s Buffet
Boat Ride in the Venetian
Visited a Casino
Free Dinner and Show

Tip: You can also check TripAdvisor or Groupon to find things to do.

There was still so much we could’ve done just on the strip alone or even off the strip but we just had four (really three) days.

The Trip

This is a little different from the usual format where I post each day of the trip separately. This time we’re going to get into each day mostly due to memory if I’m being honest.

Day 1

The flight landed in Nevada in the late afternoon. My mom and I took a Lyft to the resort. After being floored by the interior, we went straight to our room. We’d been flying all day and wanted to rest just bit.

After getting settled in the room, we walked around the resort. The plan originally was to go to Madame Toussauds, the wax museum, but it was closed for a private party.

While trying to figure out what else to do, we were stopped by someone who said we could get a free dinner and show if we go to a presentation. I wanted to see at least one Vegas show so I said sure (I will regret this decision, you’ll see). We went to Noodle Asia based on what I found for food options on the resorts website. From what I remember, the food was just okay.

Day 2

The next day was my birthday! We woke up a little later than planned but I was ready to start the day. My mom somehow arranged for me to get balloons, cupcakes, and a birthday pillow (which I still have to this day.

We ate breakfast at a cute, café-like restaurant in The Venetian. Afterwards, we went to Madame Toussauds.

We spent a lot of time in there, to my surprise. There were just so many wax celebrities to see!

The Zip Line

Afterwards we went to the zip line at The Linq hotel. I got this and the high roller also at The Linq, in a discounted ticket. It was either through Tickets-at-Work on the Vegas.com website.

When we got there, we had to sign waiver which definitely made me nervous and took much longer than expected. When it was time to finally get strapped in and sent down the wire, I tried really not freak out. I nearly peed myself.

Leaving the zip line, we were rushing to get to the Bellagio buffet in time for the lunch charge (it costs more at dinner).

We walked through a crowd and buskers trying to get there in time.

Buffet at Bellagio

With it being a buffet, I didn’t get to eat as much as I wanted because we had a limited amount of time. I had pre-bought a ticket to the observation wheel (the High Roller ferris wheel) for the specific time and we were getting close to it. The thing was, it was actually back at The Linq but because I didn’t want to pay for the dinner price for the buffet, we rushed.

The one thing I remember eating to this day is how good the chicken tikka masala was. Also, I saw a man get three huge plates of just crab legs I know he got his money’s worth.

After the buffet, my mom and I were practically running to the High Roller. I tried slowing down so my mom wouldn’t lose me.

Thankfully, we got there just in time but I don’t think the time on our ticket mattered after the fact. We got on the ferris wheel just at sunset and we watched the strip go from a busy day to a lit up night.

Birthday Gondola Ride

To end the night, we walked through the crowd again back towards The Venetian to ride the gondolas. We only had to wait for a few minutes to get on one. My mom told the gondolier that it was birthday and he sand Happy Birthday in Italian. I don’t normally like singing on my birthday, specifically when it comes to restaurants, but I loved this! He sang a couple of other songs as we rode down the Grand Canal and it was such a perfect way to end my birthday.

I definitely recommend doing a gondola ride when you’re in Vegas, though it may be best with a romantic partner.

Day 3

I’m just going to start off and say this was the worst day on the trip.

We woke up at 4 for my mom to go to the dialysis center near the strip (at the time she needed a kidney). This wasn’t the bad part because we knew we could just go back to the hotel and sleep later.

The Presentation: Never Again

Here’s the bad part: We went to the presentation I mentioned earlier from Day 1. It was only supposed to be 90 minutes but that entire experience took nearly 4 hours out of my day. This was a time share presentation.

My mom said upfront before the presentation started that we weren’t going to be getting anything but somehow the woman doing the presentation catch an attitude at the end when she presented us the offer and we declined. Then she brought her manager to try and “convince us” but his attitude was awful before he even opened his mouth. It was like he didn’t want to be there (hell, I didn’t want to be there either).

I was so angry because all of this extra time that we wasted. This trip was before I started doing itineraries for my trips but I still wanted to do other things, see other resorts.

I’m an angry crier so I started tearing up and shouted how I just wanted to get out of there. This made my mom go off on them. She hurried to get our tickets for the dinner and the show that we were told we’d get for going to the presentation, and we went back to our hotel. I was livid because at that point it was four o’clock and we were leaving early in the morning.

The Rest of the Day

We went to our dinner at another resort which was good but not worth the presentation. I would’ve rather paid.

Afterwards, we waited around for the show. The show was just okay and again not worth the 90-minute turned 4-hour presentation.

Moral of the story for me: don’t do a timeshare presentation no matter what they offer as a token for going if you know you aren’t going to buy it.

As we were leaving the show, we walked back to the Bellagio to see their Chinese New Year display. It was so pretty and made the day just a little better.

On the way back to The Venetian, I realized I didn’t go to a casino once so I played a few games before going to bed. I only lost one dollar (if you considered the net).

Day 4

It was our last day and we had an early flight. We left and I took my balloons and pillow with me to the airport and grumbled that I didn’t get to ride the roller coaster in New York-New York.

However, I knew that I had to come back one day. There were still things I wanted to do! You can read about those things next week.